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Gay issue removed from the closet at Fudan
By Ryan Pyle (The New York Times)
Updated: 2005-09-09 11:16
Prof. Sun Zhongxin is teaching the gay and
lesbian studies class. "The attitude toward homosexuality in China is
changing," she said. [The New York
Times] | "This is definitely a big breakthrough in
the contemporary society, because for so many years, homosexuals, as a
community, have lived at the edge of society and have been treated like
dissidents," said Zhou Shengjian, director of a gay advocacy group in Chongqing,
an inland city far from Shanghai's cosmopolitanism. "For such a university to
have a specific course like this, with so many participants and experts
involved, will have a very positive impact on the social situation of gay
people, and on the fight against AIDS."
However much they welcomed the academic breakthrough, which is likely to spur
similar courses on other campuses and perhaps eventually give rise to a gay and
lesbian studies movement, many of today's gay and lesbian activists say they are
no longer willing simply to wait patiently for the society to accept them.
In particular, gay activists have been able to leverage the rising alarm over
the spread of AIDS to win more maneuvering space, including more acceptance from
the government. Today, for example, by some estimates there are as many as 300
Web sites in China that cater to the concerns of gay men and lesbians.
Some of the sites focus strictly on health issues. Others tread into the
delicate area of discrimination. Others feature downloadable fiction by gay
writers, who deal candidly with matters of sexuality in ways that few publishers
would publish.
One of the most popular sites (www.gztz.org) includes detailed maps of gay
entertainment areas, from saunas to nightclubs, in China and overseas.
"In each provincial capital there is at least one gay working group that is
active on H.I.V.-AIDS prevention," said Zhen Li, 40, a volunteer for a gay hot
line based in Beijing. "AIDS is not the main focus of our lives, though. We use
the discussion of AIDS as a way of coming together on other issues, from getting
coverage of gay life in the media to starting a discussion with the society."
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